Thoughts on Life, Love, Politics, Hypocrisy and Coming Out in Mid-Life

Thursday, May 05, 2016

Donald Trump and Newly Emboldened American Racists

In my days on the Virginia Beach Republican Party City Committee there may have been some members who were racists, but in polite and civil company they kept their bigotry and hatred to themselves. In short, they were discrete and seemingly realized that their views were deemed unacceptable to decent people. Those days are now gone. One contender for the 2nd congressional district nomination has endorsed Donald Trump, a n individual applauded by the KKK and white supremacy groups. And across the GOP base out right racism is on display without shame of any kind. The phenomenon is the result of years of GOP dog whistle racism that has now come into the open light of day under the encouragement of Trump whose base is largely angry white men, many of whom my southern belle grandmother would have viewed as uncouth if not "white trash," the lowest of the low in her view. A piece in Huffington Post looks at how Trump and the GOP have unleashed open racism and dehumanization of others - much as Hitler did to the Jews of Europe with horrific consequences. Here are column highlights:

I live in a
political bubble. A lovely, liberal, northeastern bubble. The majority of my
friends and family are Clinton supporters, and the rest favor Bernie. One or
two Republicans I’m close to voted for Kasich in the primaries. I’m pretty sure
there are a few closet Trump supporters in my life — and on my Facebook friends
list — but as long as they stay in the closet, we’re good.

It’s what’s
outside my bubble that keeps me up at night, especially now that Donald Trump
has been anointed the presumptive Republican nominee. It’s what keeps me
writing on and on about this election.

I have to thank
Mr. Trump for opening my eyes to the American ugly I didn’t want to see. I
needed a wake up call. I’m not closed off in some strange, futuristic liberal
world. I live in a diverse community with a mix of political and social
viewpoints, and I consistently read newspapers and websites with differing
ideologies. I know my American history and I know what racist people have been
saying about President Obama for the last eight years. I’ve watched the videos
of young black men shot by cops.

And I’ve listened to the calls for racial
justice on college campuses. I’ve worked on a college campus where I was the
minority, and my students have spoken and written about their experiences.
Throughout my life I’ve heard stories from my Jewish friends about the nasty
comments they’ve endured. So yes, I understand how deeply racism and bigotry
run through American culture — as much as any educated, white, Protestant
person can really understand it — even if I don’t hear it in my home or my
backyard.

But what I
didn’t understand until this election, until I started paying closer attention
to the voices of ordinary Americans, is how terrifying it is to read what some
of them write on public forums, or to hear them say out loud what they really
think about other Americans. The racists and bigots of America have always been
out there. There have always been hideous trolls on the Internet. But now they
are emboldened in a big way by the bellicose Donald Trump. He’s opened
Pandora’s box, and nobody can shut it.

Imagine if you
will, for a moment, being Malia Obama this week, . . . . on Fox’s website. It
got so bad Fox
had to shut down the comments section.
They called her “little monkey,” and “little ape.” One poster hoped she
would get AIDS. . . . The comments go on and on.

The astonishing
thing is that some of the posters used what appeared to be their full names. No
shame in being a vile, racist, pig. Not when the possible future leader of the
free world doesn’t know to disavow the KKK, shouts plans to build walls and
keep Muslims out at every rally, calls other candidates nasty names and
disparages women. The presumptive nominee for President of the United States
eggs on the racists and the bigots. He gives them voice where they had none.

Take the case of
Julia Ioffe, a prominent Russian-American writer who published a researched
article in GQ Magazine about Melania Trump. . . . . Within hours of the
article’s publication, Ioffe, who is Jewish, received a call from an anonymous
caller who played part of a Hitler speech into the phone. Someone posted photos
of her head superimposed on a mug shot from Auschwitz. Someone sent her a photo
of a cartoon man with a large nose, kneeling down as a bullet blasts through
his brain. The comments go on and on.
But Trump has been mute.

It’s about the
soul of America and its relationships to the world. If you care about that, you
cannot vote Trump, or stay home, or vote for a third party spoiler.

How can this
man, who has fomented so much anger and hate, represent the United States to
the World, and to its own people? How will minorities feel safe in the U.S. if
he is president? How can this country stand to be even further divided? The
chasm is already too wide.

[T]he hate will
go on and on, If Trump is president, a possibility that moved one giant step
closer to reality Tuesday night. And if that happens, none of our bubbles will
be able to save us from ourselves.

What I find most telling is the number of self-identifying evangelical Christians have flocked to Trump. Their embrace of Trump underscores the lie that they are nice, decent, "godly" people. Hate and bigotry are the pillars of their belief system and now the hate has spread from gays to anyone with differing skin color and/or beliefs. They are little different than the German Christians who flocked to Hitler despite what their apologists have to say.

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Out gay attorney in a committed relationship; formerly married and father of three wonderful children; sometime activist and political/news junkie; survived coming out in mid-life and hope to share my experiences and reflections with others.
In the career/professional realm, I am affiliated with Caplan & Associates PC where I practice in the areas of real estate, estate planning (Wills, Trusts, Advanced Medical Directives, Financial Powers of Attorney, Durable Medical Powers of Attorney); business law and commercial transactions; formation of corporations and limited liability companies and legal services to the gay, lesbian and transgender community, including birth certificate amendment.

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